Matz stellar in spring finale; Goldy hits .500

JUPITER, Fla. -- Steven Matz closed St. Louis' spring slate by looking like the pitcher the Cardinals hoped they were getting when they signed him to a four-year, $44 million contract this offseason.

The left-hander threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings in the Cards' 7-0 Spring Training finale victory over the Marlins on Tuesday afternoon at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Matz only allowed two hits, while striking out five and walking one across 72 pitches.

“He's feeling great,” said manager Oliver Marmol, whose team went 9-5 this spring. “That was efficient. He's in a good spot.”

The outing was a far cry from Matz's previous start against Miami on March 26, when he was charged with six earned runs and didn't make it out of the second inning.

Rather than follow that performance with another Grapefruit League start, Matz pitched on the back field in a Minor League game. He attributes that outing to setting his mechanics straight. The results were on display on Tuesday.

Prior to Tuesday's game, Marmol raved about Matz's work ethic.

“He's a really good fit for the type of culture we have here,” Marmol said. “He goes about it right -- almost the type of guy, if anything, you have to tone down at some point because he gets after it in the weight room. He goes hard.”

Matz is slated to pitch third in St. Louis' rotation, which would have him taking the mound on Sunday against Pittsburgh for his first regular season appearance as a Cardinal.

The Goldy 500
Paul Goldschmidt entered the spring finale 11-for-21 at the plate. After a flyout to second in first inning, Goldschmidt launched a deep ball to the right-field warning track in the third, resulting in a sacrifice fly that plated Tommy Edman.

The Cardinals head north with Goldschmidt having hit .500, with four homers and three walks in Grapefruit League action. He dismissed the batting average as product of a small sample size, but the Cards are impressed.

“It's like a video game,” Marmol said of Goldschmidt's spring at-bats. “No matter what they throw, it ends up going far.”

Speed at the bottom

With Dylan Carlson now hitting leadoff and the National League employing a designated hitter, Marmol likes the look of second baseman Edman hitting ninth.

On Tuesday, Edman, who hit .262 last season and stole 30 bases, hit last for the second consecutive game. In that spot, he can serve as an additional table-setter and use the threat of stealing bases to affect opponents' pitch selection as the Cardinals flip their lineup.

“We had Edman leading off last year, most guys really liked him being on base and serving as a distraction, and potentially, at certain times, getting more fastballs because they don't want him to take the bag,” Marmol said.

Torre on deck

St. Louis announced that Joe Torre will be the 16th Cardinals Hall of Famer to attend this year's Opening Day against the Pirates on Thursday at Busch Stadium. Joining Torre will be Ozzie Smith, Tim McCarver, Jim Edmonds, Ray Lankford, Mike Shannon, Ted Simmons, Whitey Herzog, Vince Coleman, John Tudor, Bruce Sutter, Jason Isringhausen, Scott Rolen, Tom Herr, Willie McGee and Mark McGwire.